RUI: Pulsar Scintillation - Probing the ISM and Improving Gravity Wave Detection

斯泰恩布林博士和他在奥伯林学院的本科生们将以他们之前在脉冲星时序光谱中的发现为基础，即在动态光谱中发现了几十年的纵横交错模式，在变换空间中具有更清晰的特征。这个小组现在已经广泛地研究了这种闪烁弧现象，使用世界各地的大型射电望远镜对脉冲星进行了高动态范围的观测。该奖项下的研究将利用阿雷西博射电望远镜和其他大型望远镜（如国家射电天文台绿岸望远镜）的高灵敏度观测来详细探索这一现象。这项工作的一个目标是将闪烁弧的详细观测与电离星际介质中湍流气体的物理特性联系起来。另一个目标是利用对闪烁细节的了解来纠正散射对脉冲星定时信号的影响，以帮助探测引力波。这项研究将通过提高我们对银河系的认识和提高我们探测引力波的机会，使更大的科学界受益。这两个主题不仅引起专家的兴趣，而且引起更广泛的受众的兴趣。这个研究项目也将涉及本科生。通过与Stinebring博士和他的合作者密切合作，学生们将获得广泛的技术技能，并进一步发展他们独立探索科学问题的能力。学生们将有机会在世界上最大的射电望远镜上使用最先进的电子设备和计算机。有机会与美国和国外的科学家合作，并在会议和出版物上报告他们的工作，将增强学生的研究经验，为研究生培训或技术劳动力中的其他角色做好准备。

Dr. Stinebring and his Oberlin College undergraduate students will build on their previous discovery in pulsar timing spectra that a crisscross pattern that had been noticed for decades in dynamic spectra has a much clearer signature in transform space. This group has now studied this scintillation arc phenomenon extensively, using high dynamic range observations of pulsars obtained with large radio telescopes around the world. The research under this award will explore this phenomenon in detail using high-sensitivity observations from the Arecibo radio telescope and other large telescopes such as the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank Telescope. One goal of this work is to connect the detailed observations of scintillation arcs with the physical characteristics of turbulent gas in the ionized interstellar medium. The other goal is to use what is learned about scintillation details to correct for the effects of scattering on pulsar timing signals in order to assist in the detection of gravitational waves.This research will benefit the greater scientific community by advancing our knowledge about the Milky Way galaxy and by improving our chances of detecting gravitational waves. Both of these topics are of interest not only to specialists, but to a much wider audience as well. This research program will also involve undergraduate students. By working closely with Dr. Stinebring and his collaborators, the students will gain a broad range of technical skills as well as further develop their ability to independently explore scientific problems. The students will have the opportunity to use state-of-the-art electronics and computers at the largest radio telescopes in the world. Opportunities to collaborate with scientists in the U.S. and abroad and to report their work at conferences and in publications will enhance the student research experience and prepare them for graduate training or other roles in the technical workforce.